James Fitch Can't Lose
by Stokley27
Summary: Think you've seen it all? Think again, see the summer through the eyes of James Fitch, the younger brother of Emily and Katie. Join him and Gordon MacPherson as they stumble through first love, misadventures and his family as seen in his eyes.
1. This Boys Life

**A/N This is just a short story, not a lot of chapters but it was playing in my head for ages and had to come out. This is for Miss Peg who's taken time out of her busy writing to BETA this for me. Thank you so much, she really is the best!**

** If you like it, let me know, its a bit different from the normal stories I've seen on here so I'm not sure how much people will like a James-centric story.  
**

**Chapter 1 This Boys Life**

_Mum says when you're telling a story, you should always start from the beginning with the facts, that way people know what you're going on about. These are the facts as they are right now. My name is James Michael Fitch, I turned twelve last month. My parents got me a new bike which well pissed me off because I wanted an Xbox360 like my best mate, Gordon Macpherson, got for his. We were planning epic matches to play together on HALO and finally showing those loud mouth Yanks on there what for._

_Instead, my Dad talked my Mum into getting me a bike to encourage me to be more active because he thinks I sit around playing video games too much. Only losers ride bikes at my age now. My Dad can be a total tosser when he wants to be. I live in Bristol with my parents and my two cranky, emotional, older sisters who like to beat me up. They're identical twins and right bitches, they are. Well, mostly Katie, not Emily so much lately. She has her own problems to deal with. _

_My best mate, as stated already, is Gordon Macpherson. We've been friends since year 2. He pushed me off the climbing frame and I got up and slugged him, never mind that he was a good head taller than me. He laughed instead of pounding me good and we've been best mates every since. I spend a lot of time over at Gordon's house, they have better food, an Xbox360 and his Mum lets us do whatever we want as long as we have a good reason for it. _

_Just last week, Gordon shaved his little brother Alfie's hair into a bitchin Mohawk and then used Vimto to dye it purple. My Mum would have went mental if I ever pulled any crap like that but Gordon told his Mum that he wanted to help his little brother express his individuality and she smiled. Smiled! Like he'd won the school spelling bee and not made his brother look like a bloody freak. She even told Alfie to stop crying about it, that he was lucky he had an older brother who cared. Blimey, what kind of Mum believed that bullshit? Gordon's Mum, that's who. And that's why I've spent almost all of my summer at his house. _

_But back to the facts, I tend to go off on tangents, it drives my parents and my teachers batty but I can't help it. I have a million thoughts going through my head all the time and I have to get them out or I might miss a good one. _

_Fact, my family is having problems and is divided on what the actual problem is._

_Fact, I, James Fitch, am in love._

_And the final, terrible, fact, there's only two weeks left of Summer Holiday to get the most beautiful girl in Bristol to notice me before she goes back to her posh boarding school in London. But let me start at the beginning of the summer, when it all began…_

_

* * *

_

"Oi, Wanker! Get up, Mum made breakfast." The pounding on the thin, wooden, bedroom door woke James up with a start. The clock on the bedside table brightly shown it was already ten past 9, he was running late. He quickly got up and ran out his bedroom door, colliding with his older sister as they were both making their way for the bathroom.

"Hey, watch it, you twat." The girl snapped at him pushing the younger boy out of the way and into the hallway wall.

"Don't push me, bitch, I was here first."James mouthed back, earning him a swift slap to the back of the head.

"And watch your mouth, yeah, or next time I'll make you eat that bar of soap." Katie smacked him one more time for good measure.

James rubbed the back of his head, remembering her shoving the bar of soap in his mouth the other day and wisely decided not to say anything back. He settled for glaring at her until she slammed the bathroom door shut in his face.

Katie was the oldest of the Fitch kids, but only a few minutes more than her twin sister, Emily. James was of the opinion that Katie more than likely had pushed Emily out of the way in the womb to be the first out. She was the most infuriatingly bossy cow he'd ever come into contact with. Not to mention she had a wicked painful slap. It was uncanny how she always managed to get that spot just above his neck that smarted the worst.

Taking a quick look down the hall to make sure no one else was around, James decided to take a peek in the keyhole. He knew it was wrong to look at his sister naked but he had a very active imagination and was able to ignore that the boobs he was looking at where attached to his sister. They were the only real live boobs he had access to peep at, because not even James Fitch was pervy enough to peek at his own mother. He bent down, closed one eye to get a better view and looked through the keyhole.

"Fucks sake, James! That's your sister, you fucking pervy little wanker." Emily called down the hall as she was coming out of the room she shared with Katie and caught James yet again trying to watch their sister shower.

James sighed and leaned against the wall. "Doesn't matter, she filled the hole with paper." He wasn't the least bit concerned with being caught, it wasn't the first time. He couldn't help it, he had a natural curiosity for a boy of twelve. Gordon Macpherson's Dad had told him so and Gordon's dad was in the Royal Navy, so he knew about those kinds of things, James reasoned.

Emily rolled her eyes at her younger brother, not even bothering to lecture him yet again about how incredibly wrong it was, not to mention creepy, that he tried to watch them shower. She walked down the hall and banged on the bathroom door. "Katie, hurry up, yeah? You're not the only one who has to shower and don't use all the hot water!"

"Piss off, I'm almost done." Came the muffled yell from behind the door. Emily huffed and brushed her red fringe out of her eyes before storming off back into the twin's bedroom, muttering curses for her sister under her breath.

Out of his sisters, Emily was his favorite, not only because she had a box full of dirty magazines but because she was usually nicer to him. She'd even willingly spent time with him since she'd become a teenager. That was something Katie never did.

Just last week, Emily had taken him and Gordon to the movies where they met up with her blonde friend, Naomi. After telling him not to mention Naomi being there to anyone, she'd given him some extra money to get snacks for the movie and let him and Gordon go see Transformers 2 whilst she and Naomi went to some lame girlie movie. It was a great afternoon, even if the movie hadn't been as good as the first one. He was almost positive he'd seen Emily give Naomi a quick kiss as they left, but he'd been too busy looking at a movie poster with some girl in a tiny little outfit that made her boobs almost pop right out of the top, so he'd only seen it out of the corner of his eye. Still he was pretty sure even girls who were only meant to be friends didn't hang all over each other like those two had.

He was fairly sure that Naomi was his sister's girlfriend, regardless if Katie had said Emily was lying the night she told them at dinner she had been with the blonde. He really hoped it was true because the kids at school would think he was way cool if he had a lezzer for a sister.

It wasn't as if the kids thought he was a dork or anything, quite the opposite actually. James was a popular lad with loads of friends. People naturally seemed to gravitate towards the sandy haired, smart mouthed boy. He was always good for a laugh and great at figuring things out and even a few of the girls were getting to be that age where they were noticing he wasn't a bad looking bloke at all. Things were definitely looking good for James Fitch.

"Oi! Fuckface, get out of the way!"

Well, most things anyways.

James quickly stood up and moved away from the bathroom door as Katie stormed past in a towel and disappeared into her room. But not before throwing a scowl at her brother.

'_What the hell has climb up her arse?' _he thought. Not that Katie ever needed a reason to be a cow towards him, sometimes he felt as if she couldn't stand him just because he was born.

"Don't even think about it." Emily threatened as James made a move towards the now unoccupied bathroom. "Go use mum and dad's."

"I was here first, Ems, and I'm already running late to meet up with Gordon." James said, deciding to appeal to her better side, it tended to work better with her than smart alec remarks.

"And I'm late to meet up with Naomi. Just use Mum's, yeah?" James scowled down at the floor, grateful at least she hadn't outright pushed him out of the way.

"But Mum and Dad's doesn't have any pressure, it just trickles out so the soap doesn't come all the way out of my hair." James tried not to pout, he thought a guy of his age was too old to pout.

Emily shifted from foot to foot, feeling a little bad for always pushing her little brother around. He could be a right wanker at times but she wondered if that was only because her and Katie had been so rough on him for the last few years. She felt in a charitable mood that morning, not enough to give him the upstairs shower, but at least to try and appease the kid.

"Naomi and I are going to the park later if you want to meet up, I'll even buy you and Gordon some ice cream." Spending time with James wasn't the worst way to spend an afternoon, Emily mused, especially considering she'd be off to University in a year and then would only see him on holidays.

James tried to hide his excitement, it wasn't everyday his sister invited him out, though she had been more lately but still, it was kind of a big deal.

"Alright, I'll have to check with Gordon to see what he's up to." James casually answered knowing full well Gordon would go, he'd had a raging crush on Emily ever since he'd seen her in a tight little tank top working out on the last Fitch Family Fitness Day.

James hated Fitch Family Fitness Day with a fiery passion usually reserved for teachers who assigned a ton of homework over the weekend. Once a month their father made them all come down to the gym to work out together. It was his way of spending time with his family whilst also instilling good healthy habits. Katie mostly half assed it through, rolling her eyes and sighing every few minutes not hiding the fact that she was bored out of her skull whilst Emily at least tried to go along with the routine their father had set up for them.

James tried his best but it never seemed to please his dad so the afternoon was usually spent with the elder Fitch yelling at James to push harder, run faster, do more reps, it was a nightmare. Unfortunately, for James, it had been on one of those rare occasions when Gordon was over at the house that Mr. Fitch had invited James friend along.

Luckily, his mum had come along as well and kept his father from embarrassing him too much in front of Gordon. Not that he thought Gordon would have noticed once Emily had gotten on the treadmill and started sweating, her tight tank top clinging to her. Gordon had been practically drooling the rest of the afternoon. It could have been either of his sisters, James was sure, because Gordon still got them confused in person but it wasn't as if Katie would ever allow herself to be smelly and sweaty in public. It just wasn't her style, she had a reputation to keep, as she reminded their father every time he tried to get her to work harder. He'd given up on trying to push Katie years ago and had switched his attention to whipping James into shape.

"We'll be there around two, so meet us by the fountain, ok?" Emily's voice pulled James out of his thoughts of the last dreadful Fitch Family Fitness Day. She barely waited for his nod of acknowledgment before closing the bathroom door.

With a sigh, James dejectedly walked downstairs to use his Mum and Dad's shower. He couldn't wait until his sisters left for Uni.

*******


	2. Making Electricity

A/N Thanks for the reviews and alerts, I was afraid no one would like this, so thanks again, your reviews make me smile and stuff.

**Chapter 2: Making Electricity**

"Oi, numbnuts, you're an hour late." Gordon complained by way of greeting when he opened the door to let James in.

"Don't be such a girl." James admonished as he walked in, kicking his shoes off by the door. Mrs. Macpherson, whilst not big on rules did have one big one and that was no shoes on the carpet. She'd had a full go at Gordon's dad once for walking three steps past the door mat with his boots on and he had just gotten home after four months at sea.

Gordon opened and closed his mouth a few times, looking like a goldfish, no witty retort coming to mind fast enough. "Whatever." He mumbled whilst walking past James and towards the couch on the other side of the room. He picked up his game controller and went back to shooting aliens on the large flat screen in front of him.

"Hey, Ems invited us to the park for ice cream this afternoon." James sat next to the taller boy and grabbed the other controller on the coffee table.

Gordon shifted his attention from the screen for a second to make sure James wasn't having a laugh. He'd been on the receiving end of much teasing about staring at James' sister a few weeks back, but anyone else would have done the same thing. It was hard not to watch as the red head was running on the treadmill, her boobs bouncing with each stride, her shirt wet enough to almost not even matter that she was wearing it. Gordon suddenly felt his face getting hot as he shifted uncomfortably on the couch.

'_Think of sports, fat men on mopeds…' _he thought over and over, a trick his dad had taught him a couple months ago.

"What do you say?" James asked, too engrossed in the game to notice his friend's discomfort.

"Brazil, 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002…Italy, 1934, 1938, 1982, 2006…"

James paused the game and turned to stare at Gordon, "What the bloody hell are you on about?"

Gordon shook his head, seeming to snap out of his daze, "oh, um, I was just reciting the years countries had won the World Cup."

"What for?" James blue eyes scrunched up, as if he was trying to solve a difficult Sudoku puzzle.

"No reason," Gordon shrugged, turning his attention back to the game after unpausing it. He acted as if it was perfectly normal behavior for him to be randomly rambling off World Cup statistics.

James dropped it, he'd become accustomed to his friend's randomness long ago. "So about this afternoon?"

"Oh, yeah, sure." Gordon quickly agreed whilst trying to keep thoughts of Emily Fitch and her workout attire out of mind. It'd be quite embarrassing trying to explain to his best mate why he'd just pitched a tent in his trousers whilst sitting next to him on the couch. "We just have to make sure we're out of here before mum and Alfie come back or she'll make us take him along."

A few hours later, the two boys found themselves bored with video games and decided to head to the park earlier than planned. They had managed to leave before Gordon's mum and little brother had gotten back from the weekly shopping, a fact that made both boys happy. Gordon's younger brother, Alfie was a major pain in the arse. He would follow them around, whining about everything. James didn't think there was a more morose nine year old then Alfred "Alfie" Macpherson.

He was by far the gloomiest kid around, and that was even counting Moaning Lisa, the emo girl in the year ahead of them that would quote classic Morrissey and Bright Eyes whilst her mascara ran down her face as she cried about her spilt latte. Alfie Macpherson made her look downright cheerful at times in comparison. He walked around like he had a personal storm cloud over his head, a perpetual look of dread on his face. He was only nine, what did he have to be so down about, James often wondered? And forget trying to tell the kid to lighten up, he would only spout some depressing fact about global warming or the economy or whatever gloom and doom situation had caught his attention that week. To say the kid was a downer was like saying the Arctic held a little ice.

"Hey, James, isn't that your sister over there, snoggin' that other girl?" Gordon said, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice whilst pointing towards a large tree. Sure enough, under the tree his sister was sitting in her "friend" Naomi's lap, looking as if she was fused to the other girl's lips. Her red hair was unmistakable in the bright sunshine.

"Bloody hell, I knew it!" James muttered, he was too amazed to look away, though a part of him knew he should. It wasn't that he found it exciting in the way Gordon obviously was, by the way his friend was practically panting. It was more like finding the last piece of a puzzle you were almost positive of the answer to but couldn't be completely sure without that final piece. James felt a moment of self satisfaction for having what he had suspected for awhilst now, finally confirmed.

Though, something inside him told him that he was intruding on this moment, that he shouldn't ruin it. It was a private moment his sister was having, albeit they were in a public park, but he knew she wouldn't be kissing her supposed friend if she felt any one from her family would catch them.

"Fuckin hell, Fitch! Your sister really is a lezza!" Gordon cried out, giddy with the discovery. "And she has a fit girlfriend from the looks of it, mate."

"Quiet down, yeah." James snapped at his friend, not wanting to draw attention to them being there. "Let's just go walk around for an hour, until it's time to meet up with them."

Gordon wisely decided not to protest at the look in James eyes. They left no room for argument, regardless of how much Gordon very much wanted to continue watching the two girls under the tree.

They walked off in the opposite direction from the tree, both lost is thought on what they had just stumbled on. They were having completely different thoughts on the matter to be sure. Gordon felt as if he had just hit the jackpot, as that had to be the single hottest thing he's witnessed in his short life thus far. He was sure to be spending many long showers thinking back on that moment.

For his part, James' head was swimming with how this was going to affect his entire family. He didn't think there was anything wrong with gay people, not that he'd ever given it much thought until recently when he had started suspecting his sister was one. He reckoned as long as they weren't hurting anyone, what was the big deal? She was still Emily, his big sister who sometimes tortured him and other times got on well with him. Who she was snogging and shagging didn't change that. If anything, he suspected, Naomi was mostly the reason she'd been in a better mood and by default nicer to him lately.

He remembered his mum's reaction that night Emily had said she had been shagging Naomi, he thought his mum's head was going to blow clear off her shoulders. He had never really believed Katie when she had told their parents that Emily was just having a laugh at them. Emily had looked deadly serious when she had dropped the news. James knew that there was going to be a lot of shouting at the Fitch household when his parents found out for real because he knew that eventually Emily would tell them again and that time Katie wouldn't be able to brush it aside so easily.

He'd seen a change in Emily over the last couple months. She wasn't such a push over when it came to their oldest sister anymore. His family tended to underestimate James due to his age, but he was quite observant of what was going on around him.

"Damn, Fitch, I can't believe we saw your sister snogging another girl." Gordon laughed, breaking the silence after a little whilst.

"Yeah, well, don't bring it up to anyone, yeah?" James was suddenly feeling the need to protect his sister for as long as he could. He wasn't sure where the feeling was coming from, it was something new, but he knew that it was the right thing to do. A part of him knew that they might have their moments where his sisters had been completely beastly towards him but he'd also gotten his own licks in when he could. It had been a two way street, only thing was there were two of them against his one but regardless, when it came down to it, Emily was his sister. There was an unspoken rule between siblings that you could say or do whatever towards each other but when push came to shove, you stuck together against everyone else. James felt a burst of pride in himself, he finally felt like he was growing up a bit.

"What? Why not?" Gordon quickly asked, not understanding why James would want to hide this news, it was epic.

"Because our parents don't know about Ems and I don't want them to find out because some twat mentioned it to their gabby mum who would gossip about it until it got back to our mum." James took a deep breath, a determined look on his face, "No, this is something Ems has to tell our folks on her own."

Gordon shrugged, not seeing what the big deal was if James' parents found out, but then again, Gordon didn't know how Jenna Fitch could get. "Whatever."

"No," James stopped on the sidewalk, putting his hand out to stop Gordon as well so that he was looking the taller boy in the eyes, "I'm serious, Gordon, you have to swear not to say a word to anyone about this."

Gordon felt a subtle threat flash in James blue eyes, he'd seen that look before but never directed at him. To say it unnerved him a bit was an understatement. "Ok, fine, man, geez. I swear."

Gordon didn't want to call his best mate a sneaky bastard, but James was the clever sort. He'd get back at a person in ways they would have never thought of, when they least expected it. And half the time it could never be proved that it was him. By the time he was done, you'd wished he'd just bloodied your nose and been done with it.

It was for those reasons that Gordon knew that he was going to keep on James' good side and never breathe a word about what they had seen under the tree at the park. But that wouldn't stop him from replaying it over and over in his head.

* * *

"What the fuck, James, watch what you're doing, yeah?" Emily shot her brother an annoyed look after he'd knocked Naomi's bag off the table for the third time.

The four of them sat around a small table outside the ice cream shop across from the park. It was a gorgeous day outside, so the place was packed with families and kids hanging out enjoying the beautiful weather.

Gordon hid his snicker, quickly licking his ice cream cone, making sure to watch as Naomi bent over to pick her bag up once more, giving everyone at the table a perfect view down her shirt at her ample cleavage.

_Yep, that James is one clever lad._ Gordon thought, thoroughly enjoying the show. _Fuckin 'ell she has great tits._

"Sorry, Naomi, the table's too small with all of us crowded around it." James offered, quickly wiping the smirk off his face and replacing it with an apologetic one as the blonde girl sat back up in her chair, this time throwing the strap of her bag around her shoulder.

"That's only because you moved your chair as close as you could to hers, James." Emily pointed out, mildly entertained with the idea that her brother might have a crush on her girlfriend.

"There's bird shit on the table, Emily, I'm not going to eat my ice cream over a pile of bird shit, now am I?" He shook his head, screwing his features up in a look of repulsion. It was gross but most importantly, it allowed him a great view down Naomi's shirt. The first time had really been an accident when he'd knocked her bag off the table, but after the eye full he's gotten when she'd leaned down to pick it up was all the encouragement he needed to try and knock it off the table as much as possible.

Naomi had a sneaking suspicion as to what was going on, even if her girlfriend seemed to be oblivious. She'd caught the funny looking tall kid, Gordon, all but drooling every time she'd bent over.

Emily rolled her eyes at her brother and went back to her ice cream. Deciding that Naomi's chocolate fudge sundae looked better than the butter pecan waffle bowl she had, she leaned over the table and stole a spoonful of the blonde's.

"Oi, thief, mind your own ice cream." Naomi laughed at the redhead, playfully slapping her hand away. Emily smirked at the other girl as she slowly licked the chocolate ice cream off her spoon, giving Naomi her best "fuck me" eyes.

Naomi was too busy gulping and feeling a bit hot to notice that next to Emily, Gordon was having the same reaction.

James kicked Gordon under the table, scowling at his friend to stop checking his sister out right there in front of him.

"Hey, Ems," James voice quickly broke through the intense stare the two girls at the table where locked in. "when do you reckon Mum and Dad are gonna drag us to the lake house again this year?"

Every summer for as long as James could remember, their parents had taken them all to the family lake house for two weeks during summer holiday. It was owned by their dad's parents, Grandma and Grandpa Fitch. It had been fun when they were kids but as they got older, it had become two weeks of boredom and forced family fun. James loved his grandparents but there was only so much time a young boy could spend with them without any video games or a computer before going crazy with boredom. The only saving grace was at least their cousins were there to suffer with them.

"Actually, Katie and I aren't going this year. We have a couple of Uni tours and mum has Katie meeting with a tutor to make sure she gets her levels up." A look passed between Emily and Naomi that tipped the youngest Fitch that Uni and levels would probably be the last thing on his sisters' minds whilst the rest of the family was gone for two weeks.

"That's just great." James exclaimed sarcastically, "whilst I'm stuck in the woods bored out of my mind, you and Katie get to stay behind and do whatever. That's not fair at all."

"Sorry, James." Emily smiled, not really sounding sorry at all. "When you get ready to choose a Uni and are smart enough to plan all the tours during the family holiday, you'll get to stay behind as well."

James grumbled as he finished his ice cream. It really wasn't fair sometimes how Katie and Emily got to do everything and he was barely allowed out past dark.

"Hey, maybe you can come with me and my family on our holiday," Gordon offered his friend.

"Thanks but no thanks, mate, spending two weeks on your uncle's sheep farm in Scotland sounds even more boring."

"Yeah, you're right." Gordon shrugged, it was pretty boring at the farm, even seeing the occasional farm animal fornication had lost its novelty a few years back.

"Maybe mum and dad will let Gordon come with you," Emily offered, "there's gonna be plenty of room in the car now."

Both boys immediately brightened up by the suggestion.

"Yeah, we should see if you can come along, Gordon." James excitedly spoke, sure that having his best friend along would make the two weeks much more bearable.

"I'm sure my mum wouldn't mind, she barely likes my uncle and his family plus dad's not going to be home this year."

"Do you think mum and dad will let me bring Gordon?" James asked Emily. He wasn't sure if his parents would be keen on letting him bring a friend along, it was suppose to be family time but if Katie and Emily weren't going, they couldn't use that argument.

"I'll talk to mum, tell her that she should let you bring a friend along since Katie and I won't be there to keep you company." Emily knew she could get her mum to agree, the last thing Jenna would want to deal with for two weeks was a grumpy James, he could be a right prig when he got into his moods.

"Aw, look at you, Ems, being all nice to your little brother." Naomi gently teased the hazel eyed girl.

"Well, he's not a complete wanker." Emily laughed, ruffling James hair affectionately.

They sat there a bit longer, James and Gordon talking excitedly about what they could do at the lake house, whilst Emily and Naomi kept trading sly looks at each other.

"Damn, we have to get going, Ems, I told my mum we'd only be gone a few hours. She said she wanted to talk to me about something." Naomi stood up, the metal chair grating against the concrete as she realized they'd been gone for a lot longer than they'd meant to be.

"Right, we've got to get going but I'll see you at home, James, though probably not tonight." Emily passed another sly look towards the blue eyed girl next to her. "It was good to see you again, Gordon."

"When are you going to talk to mum for me, Emily?" James asked, he wanted to get things sorted as soon as possible to give him time to make an alternate plan if Emily wasn't able to get their parents to agree to let Gordon come with them on holiday.

"I'll talk to her tomorrow, yeah." Emily reassured her brother.

"Thanks, Ems, you're aces." James beamed at his sister, a bright, genuine smile, one that she barely recognized because it was so rarely directed at her. Emily smiled back and gathered their rubbish to dump in the bin.

"It was nice to see you again, lads." Naomi smiled at the boys, as Emily walked over to the bin "you little pervs" she added quietly so Emily wouldn't hear the last part. Naomi smirked at the two shocked boys. Gordon's face turned red as he stared at his shoes, embarrassed at knowing he'd been caught checking both girls out all afternoon.

"Can't blame us when the view is so lovely, can you?" James cheekily replied, tossing a wink at the amused blonde. With that parting shot, James nudged Gordon as he turned around and crossed the street back to the park to waste some time before they had to be back at the Macpherson's.

They walked down the path, running into a friend from school, Connor Witham. Connor was an alright guy, he was good at sports and rarely started any trouble. He mostly talked about football and Manchester United, his two favorite things in the world.

"Alright, Connor." James greeted the tall, dark haired boy as he dribbled a ball between his feet.

"Hey, Fitch, Macpherson, how's your summer going?" Connor stopped his footwork, casually resting a foot on top of the ball.

"So far good, you?" James replied, leaning against the back of a bench. Gordon sat down on the ground under the shade of a large tree. The Unusually warm summer was too much for him, he wasn't much of an outdoors person. He spent most his time holed up at his place playing video games.

'It's been alright. Coach has us practicing a couple hours every day to get ready for the upcoming season." James studied Connor, school had only been out for two weeks but he already looked like he'd grown at least half a head taller and was developing some muscles. He was exactly the kind of guy James knew he father wished he was more like.

"How's the team looking this year than?" Gordon asked, mildly interested but mostly thankful to have a shady spot to sit. He wasn't particularly in a hurry to move from it.

"We've got some great new talent that transferred in plus with me and Durby we're looking at a great year." Connor's eyes lit up as he talked animatedly about the teams odds against the others in the area. James politely listened but didn't give a toss about football or plays or any of that.

Connor went on for a full twenty minutes before James started looking around for an excuse to leave the conversation. It was at that moment that everything seemed to stop for James Fitch.

It was like one of those moments in a movie where everything slows down and the camera focuses in and the music swells up in the background. It was exactly like that for James the first time he saw her. Connors words turned into a faint murmur in the background and everything else went blurry except for the sight of the girl with the chestnut colored hair, who was running towards them, smiling and laughing, like she had just heard the funniest joke ever. Her bright green eyes twinkled, either from the sunlight or the impossible brightness of them, James couldn't be sure of which. He swore his heart stopped and MGMT's _Electric Feel_ starting playing.

Then everything sped back up as the girl ran right into James, pushing something into his arms before giving him a quick wink and running off down the path again.

"I'll be back for that." She called over her shoulder at the shocked boy.

James was stunned for a few seconds, unsure of what had just happened. He closed his mouth, which had been hanging open since the girl had run into him. It took James another three seconds to realize a rather large, sweaty man was now running straight for him and his friends.

"Hey, you damn kids!" The man yelled, his face red with exertion as he huffed and puffed ever closer to the three boys. "Stop right there!"

James took one look at the angry man running towards him and then looked down at the brown paper bag in his arms. Not knowing why he was doing it, James took off as fast as he could in the direction that the girl had gone, he noticed that Gordon and Connor where right behind him.


	3. I Could Be the Girl You Met

**Chapter 3: I Could Be the Girl You Met**

"What the hell!" Gordon yelled, running behind James. He didn't know why they were running or why a large, sweaty man was chasing after them but he didn't want to be the only one left standing there to find out.

"Stop or when I get my hands on you…" The man continued yelling, alternating between cursing them and threatening them.

James ran down the path and through the sand lot where the swing sets where, dodging little kids, bikes and startled Mothers. The guy was still behind them but losing ground. James had no idea where he was going or what he was carrying but he knew he didn't want to be the one the guy caught, he looked frightfully angry. Whatever the reason was, James was positive it was what he was holding in his arms.

Even after James could no longer hear the man's angry shouts, he kept running to be on the safe side, not stopping until he was clear out of the park and a few blocks down. Him, Gordon and Connor stopped next to a building, leaning against it to catch their breath. It felt like his lungs were on fire. For a few minutes none of the boys could even speak, they were too busy trying to breath and calm the pounding in their chests.

Even Connor looked short of breath as he leaned against the brick, wiping the sweat from his eyes, his beloved ball under his arm.

"What" _huff _"the" _huff_ "bloody" _huff_ "hell" _huff "was" huff_ "THAT" _pant _"about?" Gordon wheezed out, still perplexed by everything that had happened. He had seen some girl crash into James, take off again and then the next thing he knew some old geezer was chasing them across the park, screaming at them.

"I don't know." James answered, staring at the bag he was holding, wondering what was in it.

"Where'd you get that?" Gordon asked noticing the bag for the first time.

"That girl gave it to me when she crashed into me." James replied, still in a bit of shock, his head had never spun as much as it was at that moment. Everything felt surreal. One minute they're chatting with Connor, the next he felt like his entire world had shifted on its axis. Whether it was a good shift or not, he wasn't sure yet.

"Well it can't be anything good in there, yeah?" Gordon eyes the bag suspiciously, as if he expected it to blow up in James' hands at any moment.

"I don't know, do I?" James snapped at Gordon, still foggy after everything that had happened.

"Just open it up, mate." Connor suggested, sounding like it was the most obvious thing in the world, which it really was.

The anticipation was growing between the three friends as James slowly started to open the bag, curious about what could be in there and why it had been so important.

"Oi, I told ya I'd be back for that, didn't I?" a slender hand with brightly green and pink painted nails snatched the bag out of James' hands before he had fully opened it. The three boys looked up to find the girl from the park standing there, holding the bag, smirking at James. "And I always keep my promises."

"What the hell?" Gordon glared at the girl, demanding some sort of explanation.

She smiled, her bright green eyes looking over the three boys, appraisingly, as she pushed her fringe out of her eyes. Finally, she stopped at James, staring him straight in the eyes, holding his look steady.

He felt his face getting flush, not sure what was going on. He thought maybe he was having a heart attack of some sort but surely he was too young for that.

"Thanks for the help, my step dad can be such a wanker." She answered, only looking at James whilst ignoring Gordon's question.

She shifted the bag so that she was cradling it in her arm. Her other hand was fiddling with the hem of her white pull over, twisting the thin material between her fingers. It wasn't a nervous habit as much as it the fact that she had to be doing something all the time, even if it was just fidgeting with her shirt. She had a sense of energy about her, as if she wasn't one to just stand around and do nothing.

"Your step dad? What are you going on about?" Gordon demanded again as his friend, James, seemed to have lost the ability to speak. Gordon puffed out his chest and scratched his chin, trying to look a bit intimidating, not being happy with the way she'd blown him off a minute ago.

"And why was he chasing us?" Connor now added, not as demanding as Gordon but he couldn't help but be curious. It wasn't everyday he got chased by someone's step dad.

The girl gave the other two boys a dismissive look, as she seemed to be waiting for the blonde boy to speak up.

James silently kicked himself, realizing what a twat he was looking like, something about this girl had him all off balance. "Uh, yeah, what was all that about then?"

His voice came out a bit unsure, as if he hadn't used it in days, he cringed internally, '_Fucks sake, I sound like a fuckin' tosser'_

"I nicked a couple bottles from my step dads alcohol cabinet, he wasn't pleased." The mysterious girl then pulled a bottle of vodka out of the bag with a sly smile. She waved the bottle in front of the boy's faces.

James wasn't a fool, he knew his sisters drank. He'd seen them stumbling through the door off their faces more than a few times, but he'd never seen someone his own age with bottles before. He was a bit shocked, she couldn't be much older than they were.

"Blimey, my dad gets to be a right bastard when he's been drinking all night." Gordon's eyes narrowed at the girl, not liking the looks of her at all then. She had trouble written all over her.

"Relax, it's not for me, yeah, I got 'em for my older brother. He said he'd give me a tenner if I nicked a couple bottles for him on account he's not allowed at my mum's house. Him and my step dad don't get on at all." She put the bottle back in the bag, it made a loud clinking sound as it hit the other bottle.

"What's your name? I'm Connor." Connor stuck his hand out, all formal like. He was raised to have manners, regardless of the situation.

"I'm Delia Wickstrom, and you are?" Her gaze returned to James again, ignoring Connor's offered hand until he was forced to awkwardly pull it back and stuff it in his pocket.

James felt his face getting hot again, he took a deep breath telling himself to get it together but his body was refusing to listen, "James." He muttered, suddenly finding the crack on the concrete fascinating.

"James, nice traditional name." She laughed. It was a slightly high melodic sound to James' ears. He thought he'd never get tired of hearing the sound of her laughter.

"And I'm Gordon." The tall boy said, noticing that his normally self confident friend was decidedly acting off and tried to steer the conversation away from him.

Delia gave him a brief look before her eyes went quickly back to James, who was still staring at the ground.

"Well, James, thanks for helping a girl out, yeah. My brother doesn't like to wait." James looked up in time to catch another bright smile directed at him. He tried to smile back but it came out like a mix between a smile and a grimace. She gave him a quick wink, "See ya around."

With that, she turned and walked the opposite way they'd came, James watched her until she turned the corner, her hips softly swaying as she walked. He felt as if he'd just been hit by a truck, nothing in the last hour had made sense to him.

"What the hell was that then, Fitch?" Gordon demanded after Delia had left, turning to give his friend an incredulous look.

"What you on about?" James asked, playing dumb seemed a smarter move than admitting he had no fucking clue what had just happened.

"You, playing the blush bride!" Gordon accused, though he knew full well what it meant. He knew it because that was like the way he acted whenever he was around James' sister, only not as bad. James had turned into a complete idiot.

"Am not, now shut it." James kicked at a rock on the side of the road, not looking up at his two friends who were having a laugh at his expense.

"Aw, does Fitch wanna have a little willy waggle with Delia?" Gordon teased his friend, finally glad to have something to hold over his friend's head after enduring weeks of James' comments about his crush on Emily.

"Shut up, Macpherson, or I'll tell Emily you were perving all over her girlfriend today." James threatened, shocked that Gordon actually took him seriously, as the taller boy had immediately stopped laughing.

"Oh shit, mate! I know who her brother is!" Connor excitedly shouted.

James stared at Connor, waiting for him to continue.

"Come on now, don't leave us in suspense, who is he?" leave it to Gordon to be the demanding one. James leaned against the wall, as if any sort of clue on who Delia Wickstrom was, wasn't important to him, which couldn't be further from the truth.

"Malcolm Wickstrom, he played on a squad with my older brother, Richard. He got kicked off after he punched out a ref when he was pulled from a match for sliding studs first into their best guy." The athletic boy shook his head, remembering what a mess that guy's leg had looked after Malcolm had hit him. "I went to all of Richards games and I remember her there, she was younger of course, this was a couple years ago, but I'm sure that's her."

"There ya go, lover boy, a clue to find your girl with." Gordon smirked at James. Even if James was playing it off, Gordon hadn't failed to see the way this Delia girl affected the usually unfazed blonde.

"Whatever, it's not like I was sniffing around her like a dog in heat, the way you follow Emily around." James snapped at Gordon, not sure why his best friend was making such a big deal out of it.

So some girl had slammed into him, he was dazed from the excitement, not from some silly girl who's smile could light up the darkest of night, who's hair was the perfect shade of milk chocolate that shimmered when the sun caught it just right, who's eyes sparkled brighter than the stars at night…

'_Oi, fucks sake, James, get a grip, yeah, now you're spouting bad poetry in your head? You've been around your sisters too much watching Hollyoaks'_ James shook his head, trying to clear his head, but it was no use, something about Delia had gotten to him like no one else ever had before, she intrigued him more than the box under his sister, Emily's bed.

"Am not, trust me, I could get your sister, that's for sure, she wouldn't be a lezza after I was done with her." James head whipped around so fast, it was amazing it didn't snap off his neck as he glared at Gordon. The smirk quickly fell off Gordon's face.

"What did you just say?" James took two steps forward so his nose was almost touching Gordon's chest. The height difference didn't intimidate James at that moment because all he could think about was that Gordon had just called his sister a lezza in front of Connor and on top of it had insinuated having sex, with his sister, Gordon was well out of line.

"Hey, guys, come on, we're just having a bit of fun, yeah?" Connor tried to step between them. He had no idea what James was getting so worked up about. One minute they were having a laugh and the next, James looked ready to punch Gordon out. Sometimes those two seemed more like a couple of girls the way their moods swung.

"Yeah, James, no harm, just having a bit of fun, yeah, no hard feelings." Gordon took a couple steps back, he knew he'd been well out of line. He held his hands up, showing he meant no harm.

Fortunately, Connor seemed to have completely missed Gordon outing his sister, so James took a deep breath, thinking maybe he was over reacting. He was all wound up from the events of earlier.

"Yeah, yeah, no harm, Gordo." He seemed to visibly relax, a half smile on his face. "It's late, I best be getting on home now."

"Yeah me to, there's a match on tonight, should be good." Connor offered as the three boys started heading for the direction of their neighborhoods.

"You're not coming over then?" Gordon asked James, they had planned on playing Gears of War that night, he'd already threatened Alfie not to bother them with his latest depressing topic, over population.

James didn't feel like being around anyone at the moment, he wanted to go home and sort things out in his head. "I forgot I had told Mum I'd help her with her puzzle tonight."

Gordon knew, as well as James, it was a shit excuse but he wasn't going to push it, he'd already pissed James off well and good.

"Right then, have fun, let me know if you find all the pieces." Gordon couldn't help but huff out, he was more than a bit put out at his friend's behavior.

"Right," James barely noticed the condescending tone in Gordon's voice as he turned down his street, lost in his own thoughts.

* * *

"This is so unfair!"

James stopped at the entryway, listening as his sister, Katie, went on ranting about something. He didn't know what he'd just walked into but he didn't think it was good. Katie was known for her epic freak outs when something didn't go her way.

"Katie, sweetie, calm down. There's nothing to be done about it now." Jenna Fitch said in a low calming voice.

James cautiously walked into the livingroom where Katie was pacing back and forth whilst her parents sat on the couch watching her. They both looked lost, not knowing how to deal with Katie when she got fully worked up.

"What the hell's your problem?" he knew he'd only piss her off more but he liked getting Katie wound up when their parents were around, she couldn't beat him up in front of them.

"James, watch your language boy or it'll be the naughty bar for you." Rob glared at his son. The boy was getting more and more impertinent as the days went by. He'd barely even thanked them for the bike they'd gotten him for his birthday and it hadn't been cheap.

"Hell isn't a cuss word, it's a place." James retorted before he could stop himself. His eyes went wide as soon as he realized what he'd done.

Rob Fitch stood from the couch, his face getting red. He might not be able to calm his Katie down but he could certainly do something about his son.

"Rob…" Jenna gently grabbed Robs forearm, trying to calm him down. She didn't understand what her husband's problem was with James lately, but she'd noticed he'd been a lot stricter with their youngest lately, a trend she didn't think was deserving. Her James was a good boy.

"I can't have him talking back to me all the time, Jenna, that boy has no respect for me." The dark haired man argued.

"Hey, we were talking about Effy basically getting off scot-free after trying to kill me, can we get back to that?" Katie interrupted her parents discussion as James stood there, debating whether or not to make a run for it.

James barely concealed an eyeroll at his sister's dramatics. Ever since she'd gotten home from hospital, that was all she talked about. She brought it up at least once a day. At first he'd felt bad for her but when she didn't drop it, he soon lost his sympathy. He was glad she was alright but he could only deal with watching his parents jump through hoops for Katie every time she mentioned it to get her own way for so long. Why couldn't they see she was milking it for everything she could? If she kept it up he was liable to knock her over the head with a rock himself.

"One moment Katie, sweetie." Jenna offered a smile meant to appease the eldest child, "James, you go to your room, you can't take that attitude with your father."

James didn't have to be told twice to get out of there, he quickly left the room and ran up the stairs, just catching his mum's last words.

"Rob, you and James need to spend more time together."

James foot froze on the top step, the last thing he wanted was more "quality" time with his dad, it never went well. It was like his dad had no clue how to talk to him. It wasn't as if James really knew what to say to his father either, he wasn't into football, or fitness or anything his dad went on about every night at dinner. There were some awkward times ahead, James already knew because once his mother made her mind up, there was very little anyone could do to change it, so if she wanted James and his dad to spend more time together, they were going to be spending more time together, end of discussion, Jenna Fitch had spoken.

"Fuckin' hell." James muttered as he closed his bedroom door and plopped on his bed.


End file.
